Book excerpt: We hold a great affection for the deep tradition of American storytelling. The ability to spin a yarn that can hold our attention and provide a gentle direction for life is something that has been with us for a long time. “The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County” by Mark Twain or Ernest Hemingway’s Nick Adams stories hold us with their gentle wit and carry us away for just a little while. In Outdoor Chronicles, Jerry Hamza takes up the gauntlet of the storyteller to take readers away for a little fun. There are already plenty of how-to fishing and outdoor books, and this is not one. Hamza’s stories will not make you a better caster or shooter, but they will make you want to spend more time fishing or hunting. This book is a collection of outdoor stories wrapped in the human condition. They were written with an eye toward honesty and cynicism. They will make you laugh out loud, and you will want to carry them with you wherever you go. If this book goes missing, it’s a sure thing that, when you do find it, it will be in the possession of a member of your household, regardless of their interest in casting a fly. The stories cover the gamut from a fishing trip to northern Canada to a little stream that was actually better than remembered, to how the baby boomers almost trampled a sport to death, to a solitary trek along railroad tracks during a cold, dark, and dreary February, and many more. Skyhorse Publishing is proud to publish a broad range of books for hunters and firearms enthusiasts. We publish books about shotguns, rifles, handguns, target shooting, gun collecting, self-defense, archery, ammunition, knives, gunsmithing, gun repair, and wilderness survival. We publish books on deer hunting, big game hunting, small game hunting, wing shooting, turkey hunting, deer stands, duck blinds, bowhunting, wing shooting, hunting dogs, and more. While not every title we publish becomes a New York Times bestseller or a national bestseller, we are committed to publishing books on subjects that are sometimes overlooked by other publishers and to authors whose work might not otherwise find a home.